Autumn 2009
Work with the Older People
We are building on our work in the Vale of Aylesbury and have taken the concerts and workshops into High Wycombe. This work continues to open up opportunities for older people to participate in arts activities, stimulating their creative abilities and providing a sense of community.
Work at Campsfield
Oxford Concert Party is now one of Music In Detention's principal providers. MID works as a broker between Oxford Concert Party, three other providers and Immigration Removal Centres to commission participatory music activities for immigration detainees. Part of this work is designed to use music to help train IRC staff to better understand the perspectives and experiences of detainees, and indeed we have already found that staff at Campsfield enjoy participating in the workshops alongside them. Our work at Campsfield has taken a lot of our time and these concerts, which often begin with little or no audience, gradually draw the detainees in. Shyly coming into the room at first, by the end of the concerts, the detainees are sharing their own dances and songs with the whole group. For men who are a long way from home, uncertain of their future, feeling isolated and often in a negative state of mind, these concerts provide an oasis of hope and help them feel a connection to the other detainees.
